Staff are
working the equivalent of an eight-day week by worrying about work while at
home, according to a survey by recruitment company Office Angels.
More than
two thirds of the 1,500 employees questioned claimed that they spent an extra
20 hours a week, the equivalent of three days, thinking or talking about work.
The survey
shows that more than a third felt more stressed and tired through thinking
about work, and a fifth said it felt like they had never left the office.
Only 12
per cent of the 1,500 office employees and employers questioned in the survey
Working to Live or Living to Work claimed they are able to switch off after
work compared with 62 per cent who said that work often dominates conversations
with friends and partners.
Sunday
night syndrome – when employees feel depressed about returning to work – was
cited by a third of the people questioned. A quarter admitted they consistently
dream about work.
Paul
Jacobs, a director of Office Angels, said, “Unfortunately physically leaving
the office does not necessarily mean that you can switch off.”
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But not
every employee felt that talking about work was negative, with 44 per cent
claiming that they found it cathartic to discuss their working day.
Fifty-four
per cent of those questioned by recruitment company Office Angels admitted that
they think of better ideas outside work hours.
